Rangers targets Nicolas Raskin and Morgan Whittaker won’t be in action this weekend as the duo remain the transfer priority for the Ibrox club. And the proposed moves are entering a critical period as we enter the business end of the January window.
Standard Liege take on Eupen in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League’s Friday night fixture but Raskin, who posted a photo from his exercise bike watching his club’s last match on his iPad, will be nowhere near former Celtic boss Ronny Deila’s squad as he continues to be frozen out.
But if reports in Belgium are anything to go by then it seems Rangers and Standard Liege are as far apart in their valuation of the 21-year-old as he is from the first team plans just now. Record Sport reported on Thursday how the Ibrox side had a bid rejected for the player.
Liege-based outlet Au Coeur Du Standard say that the offer from Rangers was just €500,000 while claiming Standard Liege want FOUR TIMES that amount for the Under-21 international and a percentage of any future sell-on on top of that €2million. If that is accurate, then it seems there is quite a bit of negotiating to get that deal over the line.
Raskin could of course pen a pre-contract and join in the summer for free so Rangers are in a strong position, although Beale might prefer the player now with two cups to fight for, including the Viaplay Cup final next month. The midfielder will also be rusty having not played for his club for a couple of months.
In contrast, fellow target Whittaker is fit and ready to go after an impressive first half of the season where he helped fire Plymouth Argyle to a shock top of the table position in League One before he was recalled by parent club Swansea.
Russell Martin threatened to play the winger against QPR last week which would have ruled out the chance of him moving to Ibrox in January, having already played for two clubs in the season. FIFA rules prevent any player from playing for three in the same campaign. But Whittaker didn’t feature as it later emerged he told the club he wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
The good news for Rangers is that he can’t play before the window as Swansea City aren’t in action again until they face Birmingham City in the Championship in February having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Bristol City, with the knockout tournament taking place this weekend.
It gives Whittaker time to ponder his next move with Record Sport revealing the former Derby County man is desperate to move north of the border and Rangers can work on getting that deal over the deal as they look for additions to join Todd Cantwell who arrived earlier this week.
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